Biologic scaffolds composed of extracellular matrix material (ECM) have been used for the repair of variety of tissues including the lower urinary tract, esophagus, myocardium and musculotendinous tissues, often leading to tissue-specific constructive remodeling with minimal or no scar tissue formation.
Although uses of ECM as scaffolds for preclinical and clinical tissue engineering and regenerative medicine approaches to tissue reconstruction are very promising, challenges remain in the process to manufacture bioactive gels from ECM, which retain their bioactivity.
The methods of manufacturing bioactive gels from ECM described in the prior art require the use of enzymes and are time consuming because they require aggressive purification steps, which may lead to depletion in the bioactivity of the gels and may present additional regulatory barriers to marketing.
Thus, a need exists to manufacture bioactive gels from ECM which avoids cumbersome preparation and purification steps yet result in gels that retain the bioactivity of the original material.